Google Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Google, is getting a new partner: TechCrunch writer turned investor MG Siegler, it was announced Monday.
In addition to his work as a tech journalist, Siegler was most recently a general partner at CrunchFund, which he founded with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and Patrick Gallaghar. While at CrunchFund, Siegler helped build a portfolio which includes Airbnb, Betable, Crowdtilt, Ifttt, Karma, Mailbox, Path, Square, Uber, Vine, and Yammer.
In a blog post put up on Monday, Siegeler revealed that he had been talking to Google Ventures about joining "for a few months now."
"After getting to know the partners and hearing the vision for the fund laid out by managing partner Bill Maris, it became clear that this would ultimately be a perfect fit," Siegler wrote.
"Google Ventures sits in a truly unique space within the venture capital industry. They have the resources to make investments at any stage, but more importantly, they have the talent and knowledge required to do so. The partnership is brimming with experience when it comes to starting companies, building products, and scaling."
At Google Ventures, Siegler will be putting his focus on seed and early stage investments, and will be working with Wesley Chan and Kevin Rose. He will also continue to work closely with CrunchFund "to help with the investments we’ve made."
In additional, Siegler also says that he will continue to write columns for TechCrunch and on his blog "as time permits."
Siegler, who is a self described "Apple fanatic," also had a little fun with the fact that he is now working with one of Apple's biggest rivals:
@google @googleventures I come in peace.
— MG Siegler (@parislemon) May 6, 2013
Founded in 2009, Google Ventures typically funds around 40 to 50 seed-stage deals every year. It invests $250,000 or less in a company, but it has invested to $10 million in around 15 companies. Google Ventures aims to complete one or two deals in the $20 to $50 million range every year.
Some of Google Venture’s investments so far include coupon and deal marketplace WhaleShark Media; online coupon site RetailMeNot; interactive entertainment company Kabam, where it participated in an $85 million round in May 2011; a $10 million round in ridesharing company SideCar; vacation rental home listings website HomeAway; cancer diagnostics company Foundation Medicine; smart-thermostat company Nest; carsharing service RelayRides; and smart-grid company Silver Spring Networks.
In November, the firm, which had previously been putting $200 million into venture capital funds, announced that t will be increasing that number to $300 million.
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Kickstarter for groups of friends.
We've taken our favorite elements of crowdfunding and provided them for groups of friends instead.
So instead of a $40,000 documentary, you and your friends pool your money online for a $1,400 party bus, bridesmaid's gift, tailgate, community cause, or anything in between. And like Kickstarter, no credit cards are charged unless the campaign reaches the objective, and it 'tilts'.
Startup areas: Collaborative consumption, social commerce
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Airbnb.com is the “Ebay of space.” The online marketplace allows anyone from private residents to commercial properties to rent out their extra space. The reputation-based site allows for user reviews, verification, and online transactions, for which Airbnb takes a commission. As of June, 2009, the San Francisco-based company has listings in over 1062 cities in 76 countries.
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Unlike the proprietary, single application products offered by most vendors, Silver Spring Networks' solution is an IP-based network built on open standards. This approach provides the greatest operational and economic value by supporting a broad range of utility applications that reach the entire delivery system. The result: the utility is in control of implementing the business changes necessary to improve efficiency, reliability and customer service while reducing costs.Startup/Business
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Description
Kabam is an interactive entertainment company leading the next wave in social gaming, developing and publishing massively multiplayer social games (MMSG’s), including the popular and critically praised title Kingdoms of Camelot and Dragons of Atlantis. Our studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of players looking for deeper, more engaging social games. The first wave of Kabam’s new games for Facebook and leading media sites have been widely recognized for their depth of play and social interaction.
Kabam started out as Watercooler, whose aim was to make connecting with your friends, family, and other fans of your favorite TV shows or Sports teams more compelling than ever before. By bringing fan communities into the context of your social network, Watercooler enables more engaging sports and TV fan experiences. Fans are able to access Watercooler's FanSection and TVLoop communities no matter where they are on the web: Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Hi5, MyYahoo, and TVLoop.com. Over 35 million sports and TV fans have joined Watercooler's fan applications making it the largest online fan community.
Company History
Kabam was founded by a team of social networking and community software professionals in Mountain View, CA, in 2006. The company has raised a Series A round of financing from Canaan Partners of Menlo Park, CA.
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RelayRides is the world's first peer-to-peer carsharing service. Our revolutionary service provides the technology, infrastructure and marketplace for car owners to securely and conveniently rent out their vehicles when they are not using them personally. This provides people seeking convenient transportation with a new option, and makes it easier for urban dwellers to enjoy mobility without owning a car.
As the average US car is driven only 66 minutes a day, RelayRides represents the first opportunity for car owners to monetize this underused asset. By providing the infrastructure, technology and marketplace for car owners to rent out their vehicles, RelayRides gives current car owners the means to monetize a largely underused asset. By enrolling in RelayRides, owners turn a car from an expense into a cash machine, with average profit of approximately $3,550 annually (net of depreciation costs).
How RelayRides Works:
Car owners list their vehicle on the RelayRides website, designate availability, rental price, and who may rent the vehicle (via Facebook and other social networks). Car renters browse available vehicles on RelayRides.com, reserve a car by the hour or day, and swipe an issued card over a card reader sensor on the vehicle for access during rental.
To streamline the rental experience, gas and insurance are included.
